Zeng Jinshu, Zhang Yan, Xu Renfeng, Chen Huitin, Tang Xiaoqiong, Zhang Sheng, Yang Hongqin
Department of Ultrasound Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
Department of Ultrasound Imaging, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
Prostate. 2023 Dec;83(16):1591-1601. doi: 10.1002/pros.24617. Epub 2023 Sep 27.
The loss of mechanical homeostasis between tumor cells and microenvironment is an important factor in tumor metastasis. In the process, mechanical forces affect cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and tissue development.
Using high spatial resolution of Atomic force microscopy (AFM) technology, our study provides the direct measurement of the nanomechanical properties of prostate cancer clinical tissue specimens.
AFM was used to determine the biomechanical properties of prostate tissue with different grade scores. K-means clustering method and fuzzy C-means were used to distinguish the cellular component in prostate tissue from non-cellular component based on their viscoelasticity. Futhermore, AFM measurements in vitro cells, including metastatic prostate cells (PC-3) and normal human prostate cells (PZ-HPV-7) were carried out.
The Young's modulus was decreased in prostate cancer progression, and the elasticity of cellular component in prostate cancer tissue was smaller than that of normal prostate tissue. PC-3 cells were softer than PZ-HPV-7 cells. Further mechanism investigation showed that the difference in modulus between cancerous and normal prostate tissue may be associated with a greater actin cytoskeleton distribution inside the cancer cells.
The results suggests that the nanomechanical properties can classify the prostate tumor, which could be used as an index for the identification and classification of cancer at cellular level.
肿瘤细胞与微环境之间机械稳态的丧失是肿瘤转移的重要因素。在此过程中，机械力影响细胞增殖、分化、迁移和组织发育。
利用原子力显微镜（AFM）技术的高空间分辨率，我们的研究提供了对前列腺癌临床组织标本纳米力学特性的直接测量。
使用AFM测定不同分级分数的前列腺组织的生物力学特性。基于其粘弹性，采用K均值聚类法和模糊C均值法区分前列腺组织中的细胞成分和非细胞成分。此外，还对体外细胞进行了AFM测量，包括转移性前列腺细胞（PC-3）和正常人前列腺细胞（PZ-HPV-7）。
随着前列腺癌进展，杨氏模量降低，前列腺癌组织中细胞成分的弹性小于正常前列腺组织。PC-3细胞比PZ-HPV-7细胞更柔软。进一步的机制研究表明，癌性和正常前列腺组织之间模量的差异可能与癌细胞内更大的肌动蛋白细胞骨架分布有关。
结果表明，纳米力学特性可对前列腺肿瘤进行分类，可作为细胞水平癌症识别和分类的指标。
